1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate to miniaturized switches and other devices, such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches, tunable and non-tunable filters, couplers, phase shifters, and phased array antennas (PAA) equipped with encapsulating enclosures.
2. Description of Related Art
Miniaturized switches such as monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) and MEMS switches are commonly used in broadband communications systems. In general, the presence of small moving parts in MEMS devices makes it necessary to provide the devices with some sort of protection from mechanical damage, e.g., stiction, as well as from environmental contaminants, e.g., moisture, humidity, particulates, etc. Achieving such protection, however, can result in significant increases in the overall footprint of the switch, can add complexity to its design, and can increase the number of steps needed to fabricate the switch. Moreover, the need to electrically interconnect the switch to other components can make it difficult or unfeasible to seal the switch to obtain the requisite degree of protection.
Three-dimensional microstructures can be formed by utilizing sequential build processes. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,012,489 and 7,898,356 describe methods for fabricating coaxial waveguide microstructures. These processes provide an alternative to traditional thin film technology, but also present new design challenges pertaining to their effective utilization for advantageous implementation of various devices such as miniaturized switches.